When people talked about the game in Istanbul as a potential banana skin, they were right. They were right because of one reason alone. Fenerbahce are a very experienced team in the champions league and they have a good squad with a striker in Dirk Kuyt who is used to the premier league pace. However our squad is almost at full strength. Vermaelen was never going to be a first team regular and only Arteta can present a case for been a regular starter. AOC is good enough for a substitute. Abou Diaby?? Seriously? He won’t even last a month when he comes back (although it would be nice for him to prove me wrong. He’s top class when fit). There was never any doubt on the result though. Wenger is too experienced for that. That said, no point counting our chickens…until after the second round tonight. We are almost at full strength after Koscielny was passed fit but if it was up to me, he should sit out this game. The 2nd game should be a dead rubber unless Fenerbahce have other ideas. If they do, we need to be prepared for that. However if it goes according to script, we should give the fringe players a chance to shine. I am particularly interested in watching Gideon Zelalem and Ryo Miyaichi.
young guns
It would be a good run out for them. Walcott needs to be rested and saved for Spurs. Rosicky, the best Arsenal player, at least is also been given a rest. If we can get through that unscathed,confidence will be sky high to take on Spurs. Speaking of which, why do Spurs always think they are in our class?? They buy players and spend crazy amounts of money but can never overtake us. We simply have one weapon they’ll never have- Wenger! Simply put, you can have the best players in the world but the tactical battle is key and you need the best coaches to win that. None come close to Wenger.Anyway lest I end up with egg on my face after Saturday’s game, I will reserve any further comments before then. For now all I will say is Cmon Arsenal!!!!!!
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